Branagh to launch 'Flute' in Venice

Kenneth Branagh will show his film adaptation of Mozart's opera The Magic Flutefor the first time at the Venice Film Festival.

With a screenplay written by Stephen Fry based upon the original German work, Branagh both directs and stars in the film which is given a twist by setting it during World War I.

Confessing that the decision to move the story into the twentieth century during the 1914 Christmas truce was "provocative", the 45-year-old hopes it will say "something meaningful about peace".

Branagh told BBC Online: "Whatever piece of art you attempt, you try and bring your own originality to it."

Admitting that he had not known about The Magic Flute before the project came his way, he explained: "I wasn't very familiar with opera full stop. But I started educating myself slowly. Although the comedy and the charm of the music hit me first, I was struck by the intensity and the drama of it."